A Helping Friend, Helping Fate
by TrUnKyYy
Summary: Lily Evans visits her old friend, Bella Swan, who is still raw with grief from her disatrous breakup with Edward. Set during New Moon while Bella has befriended Jacob Black, though Lily is a year older at the age of 19, unlike her age in HP.
1. Leaving Home

Stumbling into the homely kitchen as usual I was greeted by the soft flow of yellowy sunshine streaming through the little window on the far wall. Yawning slightly, I began the process of getting myself a cup of coffee while rubbing the sleep from my eyes. It was not long before a tap was heard on the window and I looked up to see a large barn owl staring at me through the glass, perched upon the narrow windowsill on the outside wall. I hurried to open it, removing the roll of paper from its leg and dropping some coins into its little pouch. It flew away without another glance as I dropped the newspaper onto the kitchen table and went to stir some sugar into my coffee, leaving the window open.

It was just as I was sitting down to sip my drink, the newspaper laid out on the table ready to be read, when I heard a knock on the door. Irritated, though really quite flustered, I grabbed hold of my wand which I had tucked behind my ear and crept to the door.

Holding my wand ready I spoke in a loud, clear voice, "Who's there?"

"Malfoy," said a drawling voice, though the tone was slightly too deep to be accurate. I raised an eyebrow.

"Malfoy?" I said incredulously.

The perpetrator drew a long, deep sigh and spoke in a tone of mock-sadness, "I guess I'm just too pretty to pass for such a slimy git. Ah well, are you going to let me in or what Lily?"

I smiled, tucking a lock of my long, dark red hair behind my ear as I leaned against the wall beside the door, not opening it. "I'm afraid I still don't know who you are," I said, fighting to keep the smile out of my voice and failing pathetically.

The man snickered. "Would I be correct in thinking that the only way to get through this door would be engaging in a game of 'Twenty Questions'?" he asked in an amused tone.

"Perhaps," I replied coolly, "Though I'm sure your name would suffice."

"Just my name?" he asked in a suddenly sharp voice, "You know better than that Lily." His tone was reproving.

I just smiled more broadly. "Well then, my dear Sirius, I will ask you a question, though you've made it rather obvious it could be no one else but y-"

"-Oh so suddenly know who I am do you?" he cut me off jokingly. "And here I was starting to feel rather dejected. Well then, on with the question."

I chuckled. "If you insist," I replied, thinking for a moment. "How many pairs of socks does James Potter own?" I asked, sarcasm dripping from every word.

"Thirteen." He answered promptly.

My jaw dropped open and I could feel the crease between my eyebrows. How could _anyone_ know that? I decided to voice this thought.

"How could _anyone_ know that?" I demanded, incredulous.

"Are you going to let me in or what?" he demanded back, attempting to sound frustrated rather than victorious.

I stood up straight and tapped the door's lock with my wand, opening it to a tall, dark haired man with bright eyes and an irritatingly triumphant grin stretched across the unshaved planes of this face. He looked down at me smugly and kissed my cheek before leading the way into the kitchen.

"You know that wasn't a very good question. It'd be pretty easy for a DeathEater to find out the answer," he said as he threw his own copy of the Daily Prophet onto the table and claimed my chair.

I rolled my eyes. "I don't think anybody in their right mind would bother to count James' socks, Sirius," I replied rather drowsily. "But apparently I forgot about his boyfriend in my calculations," I added, smirking slightly.

He ignored my last comment and took a sip of my coffee, though spluttered when tasting it and spat it back out into the cup.

"Eugh, Sirius, you idiot!" I whined as he looked disgustedly into the cup.

"Sugar _and_ cream?" he asked looking sickened. "I don't know how you stand it."

I sighed in exasperation and glanced at the clock on the wall before jumping up, shocked. "It's 7 o'clock already!" I looked longingly at my mutilated cup of coffee before dumping it in the sink and bustling around looking for something to quickly swallow in the way of breakfast.

"Oh, right. James said you were visiting one of your old muggle friends today. Where is he anyway?" he asked looking around the bright kitchen.

"Still asleep," I mumbled around the muesli I had crammed into my mouth.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "You're not taking him?" he asked suspiciously.

"Nope," I yelled behind me as I rushed up the stairs to change.

I changed quickly into the simple muggle clothing of jeans and a t-shirt and tugged a brush through my hair while sneaking as silently as possible around the dark bedroom so as not to wake a still-sleeping James. Finally, grabbing a jacket and James' invisibility cloak as discussed, I tiptoed to the bed and knelt beside the head of messy black hair.

His eyes were closed though he was smiling slightly. I stroked the length of his cheek once with my fingertips and kissed him lightly on his soft, warm lips, my heart fluttering as I did so. Smiling, I pulled away slowly only to find my way blocked by a strong arm. I turned my head to see that he was blocking me with the arm he wasn't lying on and looked back towards him to see that his slight smile had morphed into a full-blown grin.

"Sorry," I whispered apologetically, "I didn't mean to wake you."

He opened his eye-lids slowly to reveal his marvelous hazel eyes, staring intently into mine.

"Do you hear me complaining?" He whispered back.

I chuckled as he pulled me closer to kiss me again. His lips were warm and lovely though I pulled away after a couple of seconds and smiled.

"I have to go now," I sighed.

"No," he groaned, irritated.

My smile widened. "I'll be back before you know it, I even got you a babysitter" I laughed quietly.

He smiled at the sound of my laugh, though his eye-lids drooped and closed. I frowned.

"I'm going to write to Dumbledore and get you off duty tonight. You're exhausted," I said disapprovingly.

It was his turn to frown. "I'm fine Lily, love. Really, I am," he said, his eyes still closed.

I laughed a bit again; I was amazed he thought he had a choice. His eyes didn't open this time.

"I better be going then," I said, attempting stand up. His arm tightened around me again and though his eyes didn't open, he pulled me onto the bed and rolled me onto his other side. I laughed yet again and tried to disentangle myself from his hold.

"James, I _really_ have to go," I said, unable to keep the smile from my face.

I looked up into his face and found him staring at me, his eyes open at last and a grin spread across his features.

"Nope," he said coolly.

I frowned. "You know, the longer you hold me hostage here, the longer it'll take for me to get back."

A crease formed between his eyebrows and his lower lip jutted out in a fake pout, though his arms loosened. I chuckled and kissed his forehead before rolling out of the bed and grabbing both my wand and the invisibility cloak where they had dropped onto the floor.

I headed for the door and heard James whisper sleepily, "I love you Lily Evans."

I paused in the door frame, my heart fluttering as I whispered back, "I love you too, James Potter," before closing the door quietly behind me.

I turned around to find Sirius leaning against the wall across from our bedroom door, his arms folded and a smile on his face.

"Babysitting am I?" he asked pleasantly.

A corner of my mouth turned up in half a smile. "Eavesdropping, Sirius? I wouldn't have believed it of you," I replied sarcastically. "But I didn't expect you this early."

His smile grew larger, "Well you know how much I like to wake up my Prongs now don't you?"

I laughed at that. "I guess I do." I reached up to kiss him on his scratchy cheek in farewell.

"Eugh," I said jokingly. "Honestly Padfoot, have you considered using a razor?" I complained, skipping down the stairs two at a time.

"I love you too Lilykins," he retorted from the floor above me as I opened the door.

Smiling broadly I stepped out into the crisp morning air, locking the door behind me and walking over to my portkey, a small and rusty watering can by the low garden fence. Before placing a finger on it I wrapped the invisibility cloak around myself and cast a _muffliato _charm around me so I would not be seen or heard when my portkey arrived. I took a deep breath and checked my wristwatch. My eyes bulged as I read the time - 7.20 am. The can glowed with a bluish light and I lunged towards it, my hand outstretched, my heart pounding.


	2. The Voices Behind the Door

**Disclaimer: I would like to state that I, in no way, own any of these characters as each of them belong to either that of J.K. Rowling or Stephanie Meyer. I also do not own some portions of the conversation shown in this chapter as they belong to Stephanie Meyer.**

_The can glowed with a bluish light and I lunged towards it, my hand outstretched, my heart pounding._

My fingertip made contact with the rusty metal of the watering can at the very last moment and I felt the uncomfortable feeling of being hooked from behind as the portkey jerked me around in dizzying circles.

Just as I thought I could take no more of this, it began to slow and bracing myself carefully, I landed rather gracefully on a narrow dirt road next to an old Chevy truck. Bella's truck.

I grinned, turning to face a tiny, faded grey house with a single small window to greet me. The presence of marigolds clustered in the window box added a significant amount of cheer to the small house, though I did not recognise it and was not sure how I landed here. Thinking about it, it became obvious. When charming the portkey yesterday I had been thinking about reaching Bella, not Bella's house. I laughed loudly at myself, then stopped dead thinking it would be wrong to make too much noise while invisible and in a muggle inhabitants. It took me a moment or two to remember the muffliato charm I had cast and I laughed again, ascending the one step and raising my wand to remove the charm when I heard voices from inside.

"And?" said a male voice.

"She is trying to avenge her mate. Only it wasn't the black-haired leech we killed. The Cullen's got her mate last year and she's after Bella now," a deeper male voice responded.

There was a pause and my throat went dry, my mind racing. Of course I already knew Bella was _friends_ with vampires, she even loved one until he broke her heart and even then he did she didn't ever stop loving him. That was why I had come, I was the only one who knew the full story and I needed to check how she was coping. I even knew about Victoria who had hunted her with her mate, James, though never did I dream that she would return. But was it Victoria who was hunting her now?

It was obvious now I thought about it. Vampires were very protective of their mates; revenge would be a natural urge when one of them was killed. But why would they kill Bella? She didn't kill James; she's only a muggle which would make it near impossible.

"She's just a girl," yet another male voice stated incredulously.

I started at the renewed voices and rather than using my upraised wand to remove the muffliato charm, I pointed it to my ear and silently enhanced my hearing.

"I didn't say it made sense. But that's why the bloodsuckers are trying to get past us. She's been heading for forks," said the deeper voiced male.

"Excellent," said the first voice, "We've got bait."

I snarled angrily. There was a swishing sound and with my charmed ear I could tell something had been thrown, though quickly caught by another.

"Bella is not bait," said the deep voice firmly.

"You know what I mean," replied the other.

"So we'll be changing patterns," said the deepest voice yet, his tone authoritative. "We'll try leaving a few holes and see if she falls for it. We'll have to split up, and I don't like that. But if she's really after Bella," my stomach churned, "she won't try to take advantage of our divided numbers."

"Quil's got to be close to joining us. Then we'll be able to split evenly."

There was a pause. I frowned, confused. Who was Quil and why did they all think they could take on vampires when they clearly all knew what they were? I was wondering vaguely weather Bella had managed to stumble across a gang of wizards when the deepest voiced male began to talk again.

"Well we won't count on that," he said quietly before taking on a stronger tone. "Paul, Jared and Embry will take the outer perimeter and Jacob and I will take the inner. We'll collapse in when we've got her trapped."

I snorted; they could not take on vampires if they were merely muggles. I began to wonder weather Bella was here at all. My impatience was growing rapidly though I didn't want to knock on the door if she wasn't here, but I could think of no other reason for the portkey bringing me here. My frustration increased further when I saw that the curtains were drawn on the small window.

After a slight pause the same man spoke again. "Jacob thinks it would be best if you spent as much time as possible here in La Push. She won't know where to find you so easily, just in case."

I gasped. La Push? The small reservation that was so close to Forks, Bella's home town? I had spoken to Edward about it once while visiting Bella during her summer holidays. He told me about the treaty formed between the tribe of 'werewolves' and the Cullen's. Though, of course, I became obvious to me that they were not werewolves but some form of shape-shifters of which I have never heard. Though I tried to find information about them using my access to the magical world, I could only conclude that they were some form of genetic animagus, though such a thing have never been heard of. Could these be the humans who could transfigure themselves into wolves of which Edward had spoken?

"What about Charlie?" demanded a female voice. My stomach skipped at the sound. It was Bella.

"March madness is still going. I think Billy and Harry can manage to keep Charlie down here when he's not at work," said the deep male voice, sounding gentle, somehow, in his sarcasm.

"Wait," said the deepest voice abruptly. "That's what Jacob thinks is best, but you need to decide for yourself. You should weigh the risks of both options very seriously. You saw this morning how easily things can get dangerous here, how quickly they can get out of hand. If you choose to stay with us, I can't make any guarantees about your safety," he said, his voice grave.

I scowled. They were dangerous and Bella had no chance of defending herself against a magical creature.

"I won't hurt her," said the deep, gentle male voice. I wondered vaguely what his relationship was with Bella.

"If there was somewhere else you felt safe…" said the deepest voice who was so obviously the leader.

Bella's voice came in a helpless whisper, "I don't want to lead Victoria anywhere else."

It felt as if someone was squeezing my heart. Bella, my oldest friend, had always been so dear to me. I squared my jaw and removed my cloak, wondering how good the hearing was of these near-human creatures. I removed the muffliato charm, though not the enchantment on my ear and quickly and gave a wrap on the door with my knuckles.

The deep-voiced leader was cut short in responding to Bella saying, "That's true. It's better to have here where we-"

The icy silence in the room seemed eerie to me, though I could see nothing. It was another female voice who unfroze them from their shock.

"Sam? Let go of my arm, why can't I just answer the door?" she asked, her silky voice alarmed and confused.

At these words various hissing voices broke out all at once.

"Bloodsucker," snarled one of the men in a whispered tone.

"No you idiot, can't you hear the heartbeat?" came another hiss.

"What else could get here without us hearing it ten minutes ago?" demanded the snarling man. "It's probably the red-headed leech or one of her _friends_."

"If you shut-up you could hear the heartbeat too," said another.

"Probably has a hostage," one of them replied, anger in his tone.

Feeling extremely impatient with their hissing, I gave another sharp wrap on the door and silence fell once more.

"Jacob?" Bella whispered, her voice trembling.

There was a menacing growl in response. "We need to get her out of here _now_," hissed the gentle voiced man, Jacob, as Bella had called him.

I suppressed a groan. I had come here to talk to Bella, not a pack of wolfish humans. Thinking fast, I hid my wand in my back pocket. It seemed unlikely that anyone who didn't know of the wizarding community would be frightened of what appeared to be a polished stick, but I thought it would be more intelligent this way. Checking quickly to make sure the invisibility cloak was tucked safely up my sleeve; I knocked, once again, on the faded blue door.

"Paul, Embry, take Bella and Emily to sitting room and open the back door," he whispered furiously. "When you hear me say 'hello,' take them immediately out the back door and behind the house."

"Where do we run them?" asked one of the voices.

"Nowhere," he snarled, "It's too late for that and if it is a vampire it will already have heard what we're saying. Aside from that I wouldn't leave you to battle it yourselves while protecting them," he growled, his voice shaking with rage.

My exasperation was reaching its height. I wrapped the door smartly with my knuckles, wondering how much more of this I would have to endure when I heard hurried footsteps heading towards the back of the tiny house and angry breathing coming nearer. The door swung open to reveal a huge, brown skinned, dark haired man with piercingly angry eyes blocking the doorway, his arms folded menacingly.


	3. Strange Introductions

**Disclaimer: I would like to state that I, in no way, own any of these characters as each of them belong to either that of J.K. Rowling or Stephanie Meyer.**

_The door swung open to reveal a huge, brown skinned, dark haired man with piercingly angry eyes blocking the doorway, his arms folded menacingly._

My mouth dropped open and my eyes widened as I stared at the large man. His eyes, too, bulged after sucking in a deep breath, his mouth falling open with a faint 'pop'. We stood gaping at each other for a moment before a voice cut through our astonishment.

"Sam?" whispered a careful voice.

Sam blinked and regathered himself, I followed his example. He spoke his line loudly to signal the others to step out the back door.

"Hello," he said, loudly and clearly.

"Hi," I responded lamely.

His eyes narrowed. "Who are you and what do you want?" he demanded in a growling voice.

As he spoke, two heads popped up behind each of his shoulders. They all had similar dark eyes and silky skin, though it was the unusual masculinity which seemed more pronounced than usually found in men which had me dumbfounded. They were muscled to the bone and utterly manly though were still, somehow, beautiful.

I blinked at the anger in his voice and tried my best to smile warmly. "I'm looking for Bella Swan," I said sweetly.

By this point the man on Sam's left had stiffened after taking a deep breath to calm himself and was staring at me with a mixture of blatant confusion and alarm. The man on his right, however, was still glaring at me with such anger in his eyes that it became terrifying to look at him, regardless of my power.

"_Who_ are you," Sam repeated dangerously.

To my surprise, my smile widened and I found myself amused at their paranoia.

"My name is Lily," I said, holding out my hand for him to shake.

He looked down at it for a moment and then raised his eyes to meet mine again without taking it.

"There is no Bella Swan here," he said solemnly.

I felt the grin fall from my face though I kept a small smile in place with some effort. I did, however, allow my hand to fall limply back to my side.

"Well, if you change your mind, I'll come back in about," I paused to check my watch, "ten minutes. But if you don't mind, could you give Bella a little message from me?"

Sam's jaw clenched and he seemed to be battling between apprehension, confusion and relief. He gathered himself enough to say in a tone of suppressed anger, "There is no Bella Swan here."

My smiled broadened. "Well if she shows up," I said cheerfully, "please tell her that Lily Evans stopped by."

Sam nodded and made to close the door, but I jammed my foot in the way before he could close it. Luckily, he noticed what I was doing before slamming in shut and so saved me the pain of an injured foot. He opened the door again, though even less so than before and glared at me fiercely.

"One last thing," I smiled, "tell Bella I'm surprised at her." Sam raised an eyebrow and my smile grew even bigger. "It's just, I always thought she was more of a cat person." With that I descended the single step and began to walk down the narrow dirt road, leaving a wide-eyed and heavy breathing Sam glaring at me from the doorway.

When I heard the door slam I walked hurriedly to a cluster of bushes and crouched down, covering myself securely in the invisibility cloak and once again placing the muffliato charm on myself. Satisfied with my concealment, I began to walk back to the house, mulling the turn-of-events over in my head.

"Get in here, quick. We don't have much time," said a forceful Sam from the back of the house.

"What is it Sam? A vampire?" asked the other female in a shaky voice.

"No, she was human," said Jacob in a thoughtful though agitated tone.

"Human? Don't be stupid Jake, didn't you smell her?" another voice demanded.

There was a pause. "What do you mean?" Jacob replied, confusion covering his words.

"She's not human. Her scent wasn't right," said Sam. "We should get them out of here."

"But if she's not a vampire-" a voice began.

"-I don't want to take any risks," Sam growled angrily.

"But that's just it! If we don't know what she is, how do we know if we can out-run her?" came the retort. "Paul and I heard your conversation, Sam. She definitely knew Bella was here. If she wanted to attack she would have done it already before we could plan anything."

There was a thoughtful silence.

"Wait," Bella whispered. "She was looking for me, and it wasn't Victoria?"

Someone took a long, drawn-out breath. "Yes, she was looking for you but she wasn't a vampire," said Sam. "I think she knew what we are," he added as an afterthought.

The unknown female gasped. "How do you know that?" she asked, her silky voice quivering slightly.

"She left a message for Bella," he said dully.

There was a pause. "Well?" Bella prompted.

Sam took another deep breath. "She said her name was Lily Evans and-" he stopped talking at Bella's sudden intake of breath.

"Lily?! Lily's here?" she gushed, sounding positively joyful and close to tears.

Quick footsteps could be heard, heading for the front door. I acted quickly, removing the cloak and shoving it up my sleeve while quickly removing both the muffliato charm and the enchantment on my ear just before the door was flung open. A large grin spread across my face as I stared up at her from the ground. She looked strangely sallower than she used to and both paler and thinner, though for now a huge smile was spread across her face and her eyes were swimming with happy tears.

She flung herself at me and we crushed each other in a tight hug. She began sobbing softly into my shoulder and I patted her comfortingly on the back, smiling. Many more footsteps followed quickly after her and from behind her shaking shoulder I could see five gigantic men standing and staring, stunned from behind the doorway.

"Where have you _been_?" Bella sobbed miserably. "You usually _always_ show up when I need you."

"Shh, honey," I whispered. "I did visit, I just stayed hidden. I thought you'd probably rather be left alone."

"You visited?" she hiccupped, pulling away from me to look into my eyes.

I nodded. "The first week when you were-" I paused thinking of a tactful way to say this, "-in bed. I sat by you, keeping myself hidden, until Renee came to pack up your things. After your, uh, outburst, you started going back to your normal routine so I left so you would have time to get everything in order."

She stared at me with swimming eyes for a moment. "I missed you," she whispered, her voice breaking on the last word and I pulled her into another tight hug.

"Bella?" said Jacob cautiously, stepping forward and into the doorframe.

Bella pulled away from me again and looked around at Jacob, taking my hand as if she thought I was going to disapparate.

"It's alright," she said, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Lily's an old friend."

Jacob turned his eyes to stare suspiciously at me. "She's not human Bella. How do you know she's not in league with the _other_ red-head," he said, eyeing my hair.

Bella chuckled weakly and the men turned to stare at her. "Firstly, if she wanted to kidnap me, she would be able to do it in about half a second," she giggled.

Jacob raised his eyebrows and a dangerous smirk formed on his lips. "I'd like to see her try," he snarled, his arm flexing.

Bella rolled her eyes, her giggles subsiding. "Don't be stupid Jake. She's more powerful than you."

The men who had been watching the conversation with much agitation stiffened once more. Jacob laughed in disbelief, looking me up and down from my soft waves of dark red hair to the glimmering crystals on my small ballet flats resting delicately on my feet. I smirked at his ignorance, fingering my wand in the back pocket of my jeans with the hand that was not encased in one of Bella's.

"_Her_?" he asked in sceptically, still laughing.

"You said it yourself, Jake. She's not quite human," said Bella patiently.

This stopped his laughter. He eyed me suspiciously again, though directed his question at Bella, "What is she then?" he asked.

Bella looked at me, wondering, I could tell, weather she was aloud to tell them. I thought for a moment before deciding that they, too, were members of the magical world and nodded my head, smiling. Bella turned to the group of men who were all leaning in, curious to discover the answer to this mystery.

Fixing her deep brown eyes to stare intently into Jacobs, she spoke quietly, a smile spreading slowly across her features, "She's a witch."


	4. Cautious, Casual Conversations

**Disclaimer: I would like to state that I, in no way, own any of these characters as each of them belong to either that of J.K. Rowling or Stephanie Meyer.**

_Fixing her deep brown eyes to stare intently into Jacobs, she spoke quietly, a smile spreading slowly across her features, "She's a witch."_

Five pairs of eyes were staring blankly at Bella, uncomprehending.

"A-a what?" asked Jacob looking thoroughly confused.

I sighed in exasperation and the confused stares turned their gaze onto me.

"She said I'm a witch," I said slowly, as if explaining something to a 5-year-old.

Jacob blinked. "Like someone with magical powers?" he asked.

At these words the men burst into humourless laughter. I frowned; growing irritated with them I pulled out my wand, dropping Bella's hand as I did so. The laughter stopped abruptly as I held it up for them to see and they looked from me to the polished wand, with obvious suppressed laughter.

"Uh, a stick?" asked one of the men, barely containing his grin.

I chuckled slightly and pointed at the man who spoke, but Bella grabbed my arm. I look at her confused, my eyes demanding an explanation.

"Maybe it's best if you don't do that while your angry," she whispered to me.

I frowned again and pointed my wand instead at a tree a little way back behind Bella. Very conscious of the several pairs of watching eyes on me, I gave my wand a slight wave and muttered, _Reducto_. The tree made an odd squelching sound and began to shrink smaller and smaller until it was no more than a shrub.

The men gasped and I turned to face them, my eyebrows raised. They had moved forward out of the door to watch my show of magic and Sam now stood at the front. However, it was Jacob who caught my attention. His eyes were wide and somehow irrational, his whole frame quivering.

"Bella," Jacob said tensely. Bella too was staring at Jacob, though her gaze was cautious. "Bella, step away from her," he said through gritted teeth.

Before Bella could reply Sam turned to face Jacob, placing a hand on his shoulder and staring him in the eye. Jacob's eyes met his for a moment before he closed them and took a deep breath, the shaking slowing. Alarmed, I looked at Bella for some sort of explanation, though she had eyes only for Jacob. I took a deep breath and stepped forward.

"Uh, Jacob?" I said unsurely. His shaking had stopped, his eyes still closed but he did not show any recognition that I had spoken. "I'm not here to hurt Bella; I want to protect her as much as you do, if not more. But you should know, I know what you all are and could overpower you rather simply," the men froze though I ploughed on, "but I won't, of course. If you're trying to help Bella, then I'm your ally."

Jacob's eyes opened and he looked over Sam's shoulder to meet my eyes, a vulnerable look on his face. He nodded, "Thankyou," he said quietly.

Sam removed his hand from Jacob's shoulder and turned to me, frowning slightly.

"So," he said in his deep voice, "you're not human, you're here for Bella and you want to help us?" he asked, summing everything up.

"Oh, I am human," I said laughing a bit, "I can just use magic as well. But yes, you got the rest right."

Sam stared at me for a moment seeming to assess me before turning to Bella. "You trust her Bella?" he asked gravely.

Bella smiled and nodded, her eyes still swimming with tears. Sam sighed and turned to me, holding out his hand. "Welcome, Lily," he said.

I grinned widely and took his large hand. Shaking it I said, "Thankyou."

A woman who appeared to have been listening poked her head out the door from the right hand side of the frame so the side of her face was visible and said, "Breakfast."

Dropping Sam's hand, I watched as the men raced inside to devour their food. I turned to Bella who was looking at me as if she were afraid I might disappear any moment. I smiled and pulled her into another hug just as Jacob reappeared in the door frame.

"You coming or what?" he asked, smiling at Bella before turning back into the house.

I pulled out of the hug and took her hand instead, pulling her into the house. The room I stepped into was almost entirely a kitchen with pale wooden floors and white cupboards. The men were surrounding a rather small looking table which seemed to quiver with fear as they fought over the food. I chuckled at the sight and turned to look at the other woman who was rinsing a large yellow bowl in the sink. Her back was to me though I could tell she must be beautiful with her long silky black hair and beautifully coloured skin.

Hearing a sniffle, I fixed my eyes on Bella who was watching me again. I smiled.

"I think you have some explaining to do," I said cheerfully.

She looked confused for a moment before comprehension dawned on her face and she glanced at the ravenous men before replying. "Oh. Uh, well Jake's an old family friend, but from what you said I guess you already know what they are…" she trailed of questioningly.

"I figured it out," I said, trying to prompt her to go on.

She smiled. "Well, yeah, I only figured it out this morning."

I raised my eyebrows but she didn't elaborate. "An old family friend? I've never heard you talk about him," I said softly.

"Yeah, I only really met him when I came to Forks. His dad is Billy Black, he's a good friend of Charlie." she replied.

"Oh, the one he's always fishing with?"

"That's right."

There was a pause as we watched the men eat.

"How did you know?" Bella asked abruptly.

I looked at her to see she was staring at her feet looking uncomfortable.

"How did I know what?" I asked, confused.

She took a shaky breath. "You said you stayed with me the first week," she said quickly as though saying it fast would make it less painful. "How did you know to be there?" she asked, her voice breaking twice.

I didn't reply at first, waiting for her to look up at me. "_He_ told me," I said, unsure how much she could take.

She nodded, her eyes closing and a tear sliding down her face. I reached out and wiped the tear away from her face with my fingertips before pulling her to my chest and holding her close. From behind her slight frame I could see Jacob staring at me looking both thankful and as if he wished he were the one comforting her.

I sighed. It seemed Bella already had another admirer, one who was far too admiring than she would be able to handle. As I held her, her sobs slowed until she was still and left only tears to stream endlessly down her face.

I leaned my head down to whisper in her ear, "How about I take you home now?"

She hiccupped and withdrew from my arms to look up into my face with a heartbreakingly worried expression. "Will- will you leave when we get there?" she asked, her voice full of pain now.

I couldn't help my frown, her words didn't match her emotions. If she wanted me to leave when we got there, why did she seem so happy to see me? I felt my stomach sink. "If you want me to," I answered in a hollow voice.

"No!" she said quickly. I was startled by her urgency, but glad to see she didn't want to rid herself of my presence so quickly. She lowered her voice to a whisper and leaned back into my chest saying, "Please don't leave me."

Rather than pity or sympathy rising in me from her obvious pain, I instead felt rage like I had never before felt burning through my veins. She had given herself so entirely to Edward, that vampire scum, and he had crushed her more thoroughly than he could crush a rock with his inhuman strength. The thought made me scowl, surprising Bella who, I could tell, mistook it as a reaction to her asking me to stay.

I quickly rearranged my face and smiled. "Sorry, my mind was somewhere else. I'd love to stay Bella," I said, noticing as I did so that Jacob was still staring in our direction. However, rather than staring at me he was staring fixatedly at something which must have been on Bella's back.

I smoothed my hands over her back as if comforting her to find what he was staring at, though his eyes moved with my hands before looking up at me seeming alarmed. Confusion washed over me but before I could think through his reaction he had already strode up to me and was standing firmly behind Bella.

"Lily, can I talk to you?" he asked through gritted teeth.

Bella looked shocked as she looked over her shoulder to behold his hostility. "Jake, why-"

Before she could finish Jacob grabbed my hand and tugged me from Bella's grip saying, "Just a minute Bells."

Curious as I was, I didn't fight him; instead I smiled at Bella and rolled my eyes in a way which clearly said, "_Men."_

Pulling me outside Jacob dropped my hand as the door closed and picked up my other hand as if in explanation. I stared at him and then at my hand, thoroughly confused though utterly aware that the invisibility cloak was indeed stuffed up the sleeve of the arm he was holding up, my left arm. Could he know?

Playing dumb, I looked up at him with innocent eyes. "Yes, strange that," I said playfully. "Some people call them _hands._ They do loads of cool things and when you put them together it's called clapping," I widened my eyes mysteriously and went on in a quieter voice, "But if there's no one there to hear it, does it really make a sound?"

A growl rumbled in his chest and I grinned, dropping my sarcasm. He twisted my arm so that instead of facing my palm, I was instead staring at the back of my hand. My skin was pale and milky, though almost no freckled adorned it regardless of my red hair. Sparkling with dazzling intensity on one of my long, slender fingers was a brilliant diamond casting glimmers from the sunlight onto the skin around it.

"What is _this_?" he snarled. I did not need to ask why he was so angry. Seeing an engagement ring on my finger might be enough to crush Bella.

I cursed harshly, hating my stupidity. Jacob look surprised at my outburst and let go of my arm. When he did so, I immediately removed the ring from my finger and stuffed it into my jeans pocket. Plummeting to the ground, I buried my face in my hands and moaned.

When I lifted my head, I was surprised to see Jacob sitting next to me and smiling. "Give yourself a break. It's lucky you noticed before she did," he said indulgently.

I smiled back at him. "You really care for her," I stated, it wasn't a question.

The smile faded from his lips and he looked down at his lap. "We're friends," he mumbled and I was surprised to see him blush under his russet skin.

My smile became softer and I whispered my reply. "You should know, as I'm sure you would have figured, that she may never want to be more than friends again, Jacob."

Beneath the shaggy hair acting as a curtain around his eyes, he frowned slightly. "There's more important things going on at the moment," he said calmly. In an obvious attempt to change the subject he said, "So, who's the lucky guy?" He looked up and winked at me.

I chuckled softly. "His name is James," I said, my thoughts lingering on the soft kiss he gave me this morning, the feel of his arms wrapped around me, the fact that he thought he could argue about getting off duty tonight when he was too--

"Oh!" I gasped jumping to my feet. "I forgot to write to Dumbledore," I scolded myself.

Jacob frowned as he stood. "And what's a _dumdedore_?" he asked confusedly.

"_Dumbledore_," I corrected him, "Is a man. He's the greatest wizard of the age in most people's opinions."

Jacob stared at me incredulously. "The greatest wizard of the age goes by the name Dumbledore?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

I laughed. "If you think that name's odd, you should take a look at the Black family tree."

Jacob stared at me for a moment and shrugged. "Whatever. If you want to write a letter we've got some pens and paper and there's a mailbox by the corner shop."

I shook my head. "No, even owl post would be too slow. I'll have to phone Sirius," I said, mostly to myself, grimacing at the idea of talking to a pure-blood wizard on the telephone. If a more frustrating experience existed I didn't know of it.

"Did you say 'owl post'?" asked Jacob sounding amused. "And who do you need to contact anyway? Couldn't you just use that stick thing to get someone a message?"

I sighed. Muggles were always full of questions on finding out about the magical world, not that I had told many people. "Never mind. But I can't just send a message to someone so far away by magic… unless I had Fawkes or something."

There was a pause as I thought. "Where _do_ you live anyway?" Jacob asked. "I mean, we all noticed the accent."

I smiled. "Yeah, I'm from Britain," I admitted sheepishly.

Jacob grinned. "How'd you get here?" he asked, a glint in his eye.

I gestured at the rusty watering can behind us casually but before he could ask what I meant the door opened and Bella stepped outside, hugging her arms around her waist.

"What's going on?" she asked cautiously.

I smiled warmly and reached my hand out towards her. She descended the step and took my hand in her own, her eyes lighting up a bit.

"Jacob was just curious about the magical world. He almost had as many questions as you," I joked, shoving Jacob playfully.

Jacob grinned, unrepentant, and clapped Bella on the shoulder. "You eaten yet?" he asked her.

"I'm not really hungry," she replied.

Jacob nodded and headed back up the step, opening the door. "Well, come on," he said over his shoulder.

Bella looked at me for a moment before turning back to him and saying, "Uh, Jake? I think we'll take off now actually."

Jacob turned around to face us, frowning. "I thought we agreed it would be best for you to stay here in La Push as much as possible," he reasoned, growing serious.

Bella opened her mouth to answer but I cut her off. "I can take care of her, Jacob. She'll be safe with me, I promise."

I could tell he didn't like the idea but nodded anyway and strode over to give Bella what looked like a bone-crushing hug.

"Jake- can't- breathe," she gasped. I laughed, as did Jacob.

"See ya, Bells," he called over his shoulder as he strode inside.

When I looked at Bella she was already looking at me and I squeezed her hand.

"Ready to go?" I asked cheerfully. She nodded.

I bent to pick up the watering can and merely shook my head when she opened her mouth questioningly before we strode to the truck door.


End file.
